1. East of EdenDirected by Elia KazanWritten by Paul Osborn, from a novel by John Steinbeck

The best movie James Dean ever made. Kazan's best picture, too.

2. DiaboliqueDirected by Henri-Georges ClouzotWritten by Clouzot, Jerome Geronimi, Frederic Grendel, and Rene Masson, from a novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac

The Hitchcockian thriller that inspired Columbo and, less happily, a terrible remake with Sharon Stone.

3. The Trouble with HarryDirected by Alfred HitchcockWritten by John Michael Hayes, from a novel by Jack Trevor Story

The most underrated movie in Hitchcock's canon. It's also the most appealing portrait of rural life I've ever seen, which surely says more about me than it says about the picture.

4. Smiles of a Summer NightWritten and directed by Ingmar Bergman

At first glance the phrase "life-affirming Bergman comedy" looks about as plausible as "Pauly Shore's four-hour Shakespearean drama." But that -- the Bergman comedy, not the Shore epic -- is exactly what this is.

5. The Night of the HunterDirected by Charles Laughton Written by James Agee, from a novel by Davis Grubb

"Ah, little lad, you're staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand?"

6. Pather PanchaliDirected by Satyajit RayWritten by Ray and Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, from a novel by Bandyopadhyay

I saw this one in a film class when I was 18. N.B.: I think I was the only one who liked it.

7. One Froggy EveningDirected by Chuck JonesWritten by Michael Maltese

This feels like folklore, doesn't it? The legend of the singing frog?

8. Night and FogDirected by Alain ResnaisWritten by Jean Cayrol

There's such a glut of Holocaust movies out there, and so many of them are essentially trite, that it's a relief to watch a documentary that really engages what happened and what it means to remember it.

9. The Man from LaramieDirected by Anthony MannWritten by Philip Yordan and Frank Burt, from a story by Thomas T. Flynn

Lear in the old west.

10. OrdetDirected by Carl DreyerWritten by Kaj Munk

A rarity: a religious movie that emerges from deep faith, not greeting-card sentimentality.